Merged: Nostradamus predict the death of Princess Diana, The Queen, And for the Heir!

User Name

Remember Me?

Password

Notices

IMPORTANT: JREF Forums is now the International Skeptics Forum. If you are a past member of the JREF Forums you must agree to the new terms and conditions to post, send PMs, or continue to use the forum as a member. You can view them here, or you will be presented with them when you try to make a post or PM or similar.

Your private information was removed in transferring to the new forum. If you'd like to import it please see the instructions in this thread to approve transfer.
If you are having problems accessing the Forum you can contact Darat at isforum@internationalskeptics.com, please include your username and forum email address in any email.
NOTE:** TAPATALK access is currently disabled **. This is just while we work out how to ensure people have to agree to the T&Cs before posting here via Tapatalk

Welcome to the International Skeptics Forum, where we discuss skepticism, critical thinking, the paranormal and science in a friendly but lively way. You are currently viewing the forum as a guest, which means you are missing out on discussing matters that are of interest to you. Please consider
registering so you can gain full use of the forum features and interact with other Members. Registration is simple, fast and free! Click here to register today.

Rwalsh: Nostrdsamus is nonsense. You know it is, really. But you are not the first to find him interesting and you certainly won't be the last

You have already found the only true use for his writing: it leads you to learn about things you have not come across before. May I suggest you recogmise this benefit and use it? For example, you now know for certain that Narbonne and Carcassonne exist and where they are. Carcassonne has led you to the Cathars. The history of the Cathars is really interesting and well worth spending some time on. Forget Nostradamus and read about that instead. You will learn a lot about theology and about persecution: and if you find that interesting you will be lead to other periods of history; other persecutions and wars and stuff: other heresies if that is what captures your imagination.

It doesn't much matter what you choose to study: it might be art you were led to because you stumbled on the painting of lady godiva, for example. Any and all of these can be rich fields and you don't need the woo. You can become very special just by really mastering one area of study: it is more work than being special cos of imaginary experiences, but it is a lot more solid. Or you can become a dilletante: that doesn't make you so special but it is still worth while: if you dip into different stuff that crosses your path and gain a little knowledge about a lot of stuff it enriches your life: and eventually you start to make wee connections out of the ragbag and that lets you widen your outlook beyond what you were brought up to believe.

But whatever you do recognise this: knowledge does not come easy: it does not fall into your head from the sky or from dreams: it takes effort and it is worth effort. There are generations of really smart people who went before you whatever you try to learn: it is very unlikely you are going to come up with anything really original: and the more you learn the more you realise that: and those bastards said that too But you can spend a lifetime in the pursuit and you will lose nothing.

And I tell you that though I see you only by letter and do not cultivate your acquaintance, yet when I shut my eyes I recall your physical appearance, your singular honesty, goodness, faith, probity, learning and erudition.

I call Poe's Law. Rwalsh suddenly learns how to spell and punctuate when trying to make a humorous point.

__________________Epiphanette (a very small epiphany): that kind of tingly, excited feeling of realizing that you were wrong, and that you have to adjust your world view accordingly. - With thanks to Weak Kitten and Blue Sock Monkey.

I am 100% confident all professional psychics and mediums are frauds. The rest might be sincere but are still deluded.

__________________(Gone ... most of the time. Troubled to cope with the hopelessness of these fora)These fora are full of scientist and specialist. Most of them turn back to pumpkins the second they log out.

Yes but James Randi has not posted here for years, and had minimum presence when he did. This forum has nothing to do with Randi, except that it bears the name.

I think I'd say that the forum has a lot to do with Randi, but Randi doesn't have much to do with the forum.

__________________The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts.Bertrand Russell
Zooterkin is correct Darat
Nerd! Hokulele
Join the JREF Folders ! Team 13232

~~~~~
Your spelling, punctuation, grammar, syntax and general sentence structure are atrocious and have been reported to the relevant authority.
~~~~~

Grammar Nazi

__________________The Australian Family Association's John Morrissey was aghast when he learned Jessica Watson was bidding to become the youngest person to sail round the world alone, unaided and without stopping.

A troll will venture out
from beneath its bridge it will come
it will inspire laughter rather than fear
until the cows come home.

As true today as the day it was written

__________________"When I began to talk with him, I could not help thinking that he was not really wise, although he was thought wise by many, and wiser still by himself; and I went and tried to explain to him that he thought himself wise, but was not really wise; and the consequence was that he hated me, and his enmity was shared by several who were present and heard me." - Plato, Apology"Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence." - Carl Sagan

Are you standing on the back of a train, speeding off to the horizon as you shake your fist at Randi who stands, dusty and worn, but still ready for the fight, watching you receed in the distance as he chuckles softly to himself? Because that's the mental image I'm getting here.

I watch too many westerns.

__________________"So, they laugh at my boner, will they? I'll show them! I'll show them how many boners the Joker can make!" -- The Joker, Batman #66

Playing with the quatrains of Nostradamus can be great fun. Take Apology's pop-culture deciphers for example. Great stuff right there. The quatrains can even inspire one to brush up on history (I had to look up Edward VIII, I thought he was a Charles.) I totally understand the interest.

What I don't understand is wrapping one's ego around it. In the 450 years since they came out, at least a gazillion people have tried their hand at breaking the code and, in their time, they all came up with the "right" answer.

Rwalsh, why are you so invested in your deciphers that you are unwilling to examine them critically? Why is maintaining your answer more important than learning something?

__________________Crank works have one advantage: they don't really lose anything in translation. Skeptic
That's the beauty of Paranormal claims - there are no failures, only newly discovered restrictions on the ability. Ashles

__________________People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually, from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint - it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly... timey wimey... stuff.

__________________"When I began to talk with him, I could not help thinking that he was not really wise, although he was thought wise by many, and wiser still by himself; and I went and tried to explain to him that he thought himself wise, but was not really wise; and the consequence was that he hated me, and his enmity was shared by several who were present and heard me." - Plato, Apology"Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence." - Carl Sagan

__________________"When I began to talk with him, I could not help thinking that he was not really wise, although he was thought wise by many, and wiser still by himself; and I went and tried to explain to him that he thought himself wise, but was not really wise; and the consequence was that he hated me, and his enmity was shared by several who were present and heard me." - Plato, Apology"Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence." - Carl Sagan

Damn you, Pharaoh. It's been just long enough since I last ventured into that web of silliness that I've forgotten some of the finer moments, so now I must read it again.

__________________People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually, from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint - it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly... timey wimey... stuff.